Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 5/25/2008

5/25/1991:
The Pittsburgh Penguins capture their first Stanley Cup title, routing the Minnesota North Stars, 8-0, in Game 6 of their final-round series. Mario Lemieux wins the Conn Smythe trophy as MVP of the playoffs. The Pens had qualified for the playoffs only once in the last eight seasons, and Minnesota barely squeezed into the postseason as the fourth-place team from the Norris Division. Each team was beset by rumors of an ownership change or a move to another city. Just two years from now, Minnesota will leave the Twin Cities and relocate to Dallas.

Birthdays:
Bill Sharman b. 1926
K.C. Jones b. 1932
Tom McMillen b. 1962
Miguel Tejada b. 1976
Brian Urlacher b. 1978


“Unabashedly mindless but fun: Reacher swashbuckles with the best of them.”—Kirkus Reviews

Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is minding his own business in Key West when a PI named Costello comes looking for him and then turns up dead with his fingertips removed. The well-muscled ex-military policeman is off, following clues, bodies, a beautiful attorney named Jodie Jacob, soldiers missing in action, and a disfigured loan shark known as “Hook” Hobie. It all culminates in a bang-up confrontation that will no doubt lead to the reader’s reaching for the next Jack Reacher thriller.

TRIPWIRE, by Lee Child (Jove, 2000)